Parking project on drawing board

An approving nod from Charlevoix City Council and reaffirmation from the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) on the fate of 108 Park Ave. has the project in the design phase.

The DDA has charged Performance Engineers with tweaking conceptual drawings for the nearly 40-space parking lot and green space on the footprint of the former Land Conservancy Building.

“The DDA has approved the removal of the home at 108 Park Ave. and requested city council consider releasing Downtown Parking Fund monies,” said DDA Executive Director Keith Carey.

The city could OK up to $50,000 in parking funds for the project. But, Carey said, the actual price tag of the project won’t be known until the lot’s design is complete.

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“We want to do the project right and pay attention to those details of screening, planting, common area, greenbelt and other features of the plan,” Carey said. “What we’re looking at ultimately is a nicely landscaped parking area offering roughly double the spaces currently available on that parcel.”

Some contention over whether the property had historical significance worth preservation efforts had cropped up in recent months. However, the DDA-owned lot had been slated for parking as far back as its mid-1990s purchase.

“We are certainly sensitive to issues raised by folks against the destruction of the 108 Park Ave. property — one of those centered on the character of the neighborhood,” Carey said. “We are trying to be as sensitive as we can in designing what goes on that parcel and in the ultimate design we will do our very best not to detract from the feel of that neighborhood.”

The move to develop the 108 Park Ave. property are in line with the city’s plans to revamp sewer and street along Park Avenue later this spring.